Culturally significant or common household names always found a way into literature but it is the first time I find two mentions of brands so blatantly placed that the only conclusion I’m led to reach is of paid product placement.
The book in question is “The House in the Woods”, by Mark Dawson. In the very first few paragraphs there is a mention to Hello Fresh, with a not so subtle description of the service, along with an admission of a character on how the instructions to prepare a meal are so simple even they can follow it, and a mention to Spotify. Deeper into the book I’ve already noticed a mention of Nescafé instant coffee.
None of these mentioned brands needed to be there. The writer seems proficient enough to be able to write without resorting to such name placements. The story telling is fluid, with a smooth but dense tone to it, which is something I enjoy in crime/drama/mistery novels.
Has this been a thing for a long time and only now I’m noticing the elephant in the room or is this a rising trend?
Everyone needs and deserves to make a living but not like this.
Thinking about Ian Fleming’s James Bond 007 novels, namedropping cars and booze brands is a thing. It establishes Bond as a man who appreciates luxury as well as he handles danger. Still lacks emotional depth or backstory, at least in what I remember of “Dr. No”. Did Nabakov namedrop Humbert’s car make/model in “Lolita”? I don’t remember but I feel like it wouldn’t have been a red flag there. There are probably a good handful of brnd-naming examples in Stephen King’s work.
So it’s a debatable choice but there are legit situations where a brand name hints at character, or serves to anchor the story in verité.
Another example is the character named Ford Prefect in “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy”, where wildly improbable coincidences are integral to the overall absurdism.
I think I’d stop reading if I ever came across it.
I ''ve seen it a lot in modern day thrillers. I doubt most of it is paid, rather an effort to make the narrative more grounded.
It’s a tool but there are way to use it without it sounding artificial.
Yes, it is cringy usually.
It was one of the more startling aspects of the original James Bond books. He didn’t just use an ‘expensive cigarette lighter’ and drive a ‘sporty car’, he used a Ronson and had a Bentley with an Amherst Villiers supercharger.
You’ll also find mention of Gordon’s gin, Citroën, Morland cigarettes, and Taittinger champagne.
This was certainly not the norm for literature in 1953, but was a conscious choice by Fleming to root Bond in reality, albeit a rather upscale one.
Exactly and that worked. And it was clear why the man took to those brands; his life could end the next moment and violently. He wanted to have his taste of the best he could get. It fitted the character. Regardless those references, the reader could easily forget them as they did not marked the flow of the story.
In the book I mention I’m picking up more of these references has the text advances and most are purely unnecessary which was what made them originally so noticeable. The brands are mentioned as if they are pivotal to a scene or the unrolling of the story
Could you quote the passage go get an idea if it reads really like an as?
She wasn’t as good a cook as he was and, not full of confidence that she would be able to pull it off, she had bought a meal box from Hello Fresh after seeing one of their ads on Facebook. She had a turkey, all the vegetables and sauces, and a booklet of instructions that even she could follow. She had selected her Christmas playlist on Spotify and had found, to her surprise, that she had enjoyed herself more than she had expected.
And now I notice I even overlooked Facebook.
This passage makes me wonder if the book is AI slop
“not full of confidence” Who writes like that? “Lacking” is a word that exists.
Apparently, this writer.
Also in three sentences they used “she had” 5 times. This sample reads as if it never even passed an editor.
Edit: actually there is another “she had” in the first sentence. Crazy.
Regardless this disastrous opening, the story actually flows well and is quite nice to follow. Overlooking the endless brand dropping throughout the text.
“He passed the Aldi on his way to”[…] “He filled a large Ikea bag with clothes”[…] etc.
Write what you know 🤷♂️ the dude like grocery delivery and instant coffee
Write what you know.
I was expecting that would be mentioned. But we can write on what we know without getting… unelegant.
Stieg Larsson did this massively in his Millennium trilogy with brands like IKEA and Apple 20 years ago if I remember correctly.
Really? I have to check it. Interesting read?
The product placement or the whole books?
The Books are really great. (Also it depicts rather real hacking*, instead of the usual hacking tropes.)
*It’s not all about hacking. Themes are among other things are: corruption, violence/murder, femicide and journalism (and more, but I already spoiled too much).
That was a poor question on my part, wasn’t it?
Seems interesting. I’ll try to take a look at it.
Nah, sometimes I’m just pretty dumb ;)
Have fun with it!
I mean, that’s a more guaranteed way to make a living than hoping the next book will be as well received as the previous one.
We as a society need to step and and support the arts, in the meantime some private companies are doing more for the arts than the consumers are.
Unless we can find a means to cut out of the equation the standard publishing houses to force books to become more affordable, I see it as very difficult.
In my country, paperback pocket edition, historically cheaper and specifically made to draw more readers, simply vanished from the market.
I could buy a full lenght novel anywhere from 3,50€ to 7,50€ and find that kind of book in coffee shops, euro stores, etc. Nowadays, the cheapest I can find a new book starts at 12,50€.
There was a time I thought self publishing could be the answer but the dragons raised their heads and razed that hope.
